Current affairs, spirituality, heritage & lifestyle.
Recently(*) the Indian state of Rajasthan, supposedly the “Land of Kings”, was host to one of the worst bouts of “caste riots” that India has seen in recent years, leaving at least 9 dead and many more injured. Eventually the Indian armed forces had to be brought in to quell the situation. What is particularly […]
“The will of a single hero can breathe courage into the hearts of a million cowards “ (Sri Aurobindo, 1920) Sri Aurobindo was one of the greatest philosophers, mystics and visionaries of modern history. He was a major leader in India’s freedom movement. Later in life he became a sage and scholar. His teachings have […]
(originally written September 2006) (17/03/2013 – image removed, as this page was being blocked from some search engines browsers for being “adult content”) Recently, an article in The Times (a supposedly quality newspaper), carried a story provocatively titled ‘Why is a Hindu temple like a Soho phone box? Must I draw you a picture?’ The article was […]
The ‘Aryan Invasion Theory’ Pick up any textbook on Hinduism, and chances are that the beginning of Hinduism is identified with the ‘Aryan invasion of India’, dated around 1500 BCE, and their composition of the Rig Veda. According to this viewpoint, the ‘Aryans’ were a tall, fair skinned people who originated from outside India, and […]
In my second year at uni, a few friends and I restarted up the Hindu society, which had not operated for a year or two before us. One of the first events we held was a ‘Charity Garba and Dandia night’. Being the first big event that any of us had ever organized we were […]
The idea that the time of year at which your birth takes places has a long-lasting effect on your health and personality is quite a popular belief throughout the world. It forms the basis of star-signs, horoscopes and other branches of astrology, which some people see as a bit of fun, but others take quite […]
(Originally published in Hindu Voice UK – July 2009) “Intelligent Life” (?!) Recently I received a copy of “Intelligent Life” (Spring 2009 Edition), a quarterly lifestyle magazine from The Economist Group. As its name suggests, the makers of the magazine fancy it to be a particularly intelligent magazine! The Economist Group of publications is a […]
Were Lord Krishna’s war ethics, which involved a disregard for the pre-ordained rules of warfare, justifiable? Was Krishna unfair and biased in the way that he dealt between the Pandavas and Kauravas? These are common questions that are brought up against Shri Krishna, particularly with regards to the unflinching help he gave to the Pandavas in […]
An excellent and rare article on the Guardian website, by Afghan author Reza Mohammadi, gives a brief account of the present day state of the country’s Hindu minority. Says the author: “Hindus are clearly among the oldest inhabitants of Afghanistan. They are the native people, whom Islamic fundamentalism has turned into unprotected strangers. Strangers, who […]
Related articles: Eating of meat & beef in the Hindu tradition Lay off meat eating Hindus One of the most common questions about Hinduism is “Why do Hindus worship cows?” Be it eight-year-old kids or schoolteachers, there is a fascination with Hinduism and the holy cow. Sometimes the question is asked in a mocking tone, […]
The idea that British rule over India was a force for good is not uncommon in Britain and even in certain sections of westernised Indian elite. Read right-of-centre British newspapers and you will regularly find articles and columns that glorify Britain’s colonial past, giving the impression that Britain was spreading the light of Western Civilisation […]
An article published on a Chinese think tank’s website suggested that it would be in China’s interests to break up India into 20-30 smaller states, and this could be achieved with just a minimal push. The website called ‘International Institute for Strategic Studies’ said: “To split India, China can bring into its fold countries like […]
This is what we hear about AUM: The past, the present and the future are AUM, And That beyond these three is also AUM (Mandukya Upanishad) AUM is the most popular and universally recognised Hindu symbol and also the most popular word in Hindu chants and prayers. It is the Divine Word and the originating sound of […]
As the Indian and English cricket teams clash today, it can once again be seen that the overwhelming majority of Indians who live in the UK, including Indians born in Britain, passionately support India over England! This has annoyed some British politicians, who have proposed the “Cricket team test” to test loyalty of immigrants. They […]
The winds of time have scattered Hindus to the most far-flung and unlikely places across the globe. One such place is the Caribbean. Unknown to most, the Caribbean region is home to a large Hindu community. Guyana, Trinidad and Surinam are the main centres of Hindu population in the Caribbean. Hindus make up 28%, 23% […]
Kalidas is widely acclaimed as the greatest poet and dramatist in classical Sanskrit literature. The biographical details of his life are shrouded in mystery, but popular legend as well as the odd clue from his poems hints to us that he lived in the Gupta Era, and may have enjoyed the patronage of Vikramaditya (Chandragupta […]
A small band of Indian journalists, activists and politicians, all of who parade themselves as “Secularists” continuously malign Narendra Modi as being a symbol of everything bad in the world; to these same individuals Emperor Akbar, the third Mughal emperor of medieval India, is one of the great icons of Indian secularism. If we look […]
Over recent years ‘Asian’ has been the term used in Britain to refer to all people from the Indian subcontinent. Of course, ideally, Asian should also refer to Chinese, Malaysian, Arabs, Japanese, Vietnamese and many other groups, but that is not so in Britain. Hence, if you notice, ‘British Asian’ newspapers, such as Asian Age, […]
At one point in the Ramayana, Indrajit (Ravana’s eldest son) launched a massive attack against a section of Rama’s army, causing massive slaughter. When Jambhavan (the commander) arrived at the scene to survey the damage, the first thing he said was, “Is Hanuman alive?” Hanuman subsequently arrived at the scene and Jambhavan was glad to […]
We have all seen the image of Kali at a temple or in a Navratri shrine. She is well known but poorly understood. This article provides a fascinating philosophical insight into who Kali really is! Kali is one of the best known, but poorly understood Hindu deities. She is dark destructive and terrible in image. […]
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